Living a Fantasy
by DRACON1US
Summary: A series of Tokka oneshots taking place throughout the series and afterwards . It's just what you'd expect, fluff, cheese and more fluff. But who doesn't love that? Rated T because of swearing and future chapters.
1. Living a Fantasy

_A/N: Tokka oneshot that takes place at the end of the first day at the Western Air Temple._

* * *

Toph sighed. She was living her fantasy. She was being carried in Sokka's arms to her bedroom. It was her fantasy with a few inconsistencies. For instance, her feet were stinging with pain, Sokka wouldn't stop rambling and nothing was going to happen after he laid her into bed. They had just eaten dinner and everyone was going to sleep. She sighed and tried to look on the bright side. She focused on his heartbeat which she could hear clearer then ever as she rested her hand on his chest.

"I mean, he's chased us all around the world! Tried to kill us!" he was saying. He was talking about Zuko… and had been for the past 5 minutes, "It's just going to be so strange adding him to the group. Do you thi-"

"Sokka?" Toph cut him off.

"Yeah?"

"Shutup," she said as she rested her head against his shoulder. His heartbeat sped up she noticed.

Sokka smiled down at Toph. Her eyes were closed but he didn't think she had fallen asleep. What he didn't know was that she was cherishing this moment, trying to make a mental note of exactly how it felt to be carried by the boy she harbored a secret crush for. She couldn't help but notice he was carrying her like a husband carries his wife. She smiled to herself.

They continued to walk in silence both trying to hide their happiness from the other until they reached the stairs. Sokka began to walk up them and about halfway up he slipped. He gasped and this scared Toph. She threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. Sokka managed to catch them from falling backwards by stepping on a step two stairs below just in time.

Sokka was breathing heavily, "Are you alright?" he asked Toph. She was a little surprised at how close his voice sounded.

"I'm okay… are you okay?" she asked as she continued to cling to his neck.

He nodded and said, "Yes." He took a deep breath before continuing up the stairs. Toph knew she should probably take her hands away from his neck but she didn't. A minute later Sokka's heartbeat was still beating just as fast as when they fell and Toph wondered if her position had anything to do with that. She nuzzled her head into his neck and sure enough his heartbeat only got quicker.

"Thankyou for doing this Sokka," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," his voice was far softer the normal.

They didn't say anything until they reached Toph's room. He laid her down into her bed and helped her with her sheets. Toph noticed that all the places her body had been touching his were cold now.

"Do you need anything else?" Sokka asked leaning against the doorway.

Toph thought, she didn't want him to leave but she couldn't find a reason for him to stay. "I guess not," she said.

"Alright then, goodnight Toph," he said.

"Night snoozles,"

She heard him starting to leave then she called him back, "Wait, Sokka?"

"Yea Toph?"

She paused for a moment before saying bluntly, "I'm not tired, stay here and talk to me."

He smiled sweetly at her, he took every chance he could to be with Toph alone because he could show how much he cared for her with his face without Aang or Katara seeing. And of course Toph could only feel his vibrations, which he was painfully aware of. He sometimes thought that she knew how he felt for her but he tried to ignore it.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked. They had been doing this for at least a month now. Toph would find a reason to keep Sokka from going to bed and then they'd talk long after Aang and Katara had fallen asleep. In the past weeks Sokka had grown closer to this girl than he had been with anyone before.

She sighed and tried to think of something. "I don't know. How about you just talk," she said.

"Last time I did that you told me to shutup," he said with a laugh.

"Well just talk about something other then Zuko," she said. He sat there trying to think of something. After a minute or so she said, "Well?"

"Don't rush me! You're putting a lot of pressure on me you know!" he said. She smiled at the strain in his voice, it was cute. "Okay, I'll talk about… uhh…"

"How about I think of a topic," she said.

"Alright," he said.

"Who's Yue?" she said.

She could feel the tension in the air rise the moment she said her name. His voice was shaky and soft when he spoke, "How do you know about Yue?"

"One night, you were lying down but I knew you weren't asleep. I asked Katara what you were doing… she said you were thinking about Yue. I didn't know what that meant but she didn't want to tell me anything else," Toph said. Sokka had been watching the moon that night.

"Let's talk about something else okay?" he said quietly.

Toph wasn't going to let him off that easily, "Alright, let's talk about Suki."

"Why would I want to talk about either of those things?!" he said angrily. She could tell he had stood up by the area his voice was coming from.

"Sokka," she was speaking kindly trying to keep him from yelling at her again. It hurt her more then he would ever know, "I've told you everything. Every secret I have to tell."

"I didn't make you tell me! I didn't ask you to talk about your family! Why should I tell you these things," he was almost shouting now.

She sighed, "I'm not saying that you owe me anything. I'm just trying to help." He didn't respond, "You and me are the same Sokka. We both bottle up our feelings until we can't stand it anymore. But when I talk to you about my problems… well it just makes me feel better. I haven't heard a word about Suki and apparently there's a girl named Yue who you still think about! If you told someone… if you told _me_, then it could help."

She could hear Sokka sigh. But she was shocked when she felt the end of her bed sag under his weight. Had he just sat on her bed? She tried to stop herself from blushing.

"Alright, I'll talk… but if I want to stop you can't press me to keep talking okay?" he said in a defeated voice. Toph nodded, "Alright, so do you want to hear about Yue first?"

"Okay,"

"Well, Yue was the princess of the northern watertribe. We went there to find Aang and Katara a waterbending teacher. This was a few months before we first met you. Well when we first entered the city I saw this beautiful girl… more beautiful then any girl I've ever seen, with white hair and pale blue eyes," Toph was listening politely sitting up in bed, "And so I started talking to her and she eventually agreed to go out on a date with me. But I found out that she was engaged to this creep named Hahn," he said the name with a growl, "And then everything began going wrong when we realized we were about to be attacked by the Firenation," he remembered the black snow falling through the sky… black snow he had seen twice, first preceding his mother's death and second preceding his love's death.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued, he told about Aang entering the spirit world and Zuko kidnapping him. He explained Yue's connection with the moon and how the moon and the ocean were the source of all waterbender's power. Then he got to Zhao, "The head of the fleet of Firenation ships was named Zhao, and he had somehow found out that the moon spirit had taken the form of a coyfish years ago. And he planned on killing it and destroying the power of the waterbenders. He killed the fish and the moon vanished, it was terrifying. I really thought that…" he stopped and a ghost of the terror that had come to him that night came to him now, "I thought that it was over."

It was silent as Toph tried to get the picture of her three best friends dead out of her mind."How did you escape?" asked Toph.

"Aang saved us all, it was incredible Toph," he said. "He went into the avatar state and joined his energy with the ocean spirit and created this monster of water which he was controlling from the inside. He fought off the Firenation single-handedly and they retreated."

Toph had a feeling she knew what happened next. She asked in a quiet voice, "What happened to Yue?"

When he spoke his voice was low and filled with emotion, "She gave herself up. She gave her life to become the moon spirit," neither of them spoke for a long time. Toph wanted to hold him, comfort him in anyway but she couldn't think of anything she could do.

So she reached her hand out on the bed and she prayed he would hold it. He did and she asked, "Did you love her?"

He nodded but couldn't speak because of the lump in his throat. Toph didn't need a yes to know the answer. She heard a tiny sniffle and the idea of Sokka crying made tears come to her own eyes. She felt them begin to roll down her cheeks. The sadness that she felt for Sokka was overwhelming.

She felt him sit up, "What are you crying for?" he asked, his voice stuffy after his bout of tears.

She squeezed his hand, "For you." She felt him take his hand out of hers, then she felt it again on her face this time, wiping away a tear.

"Don't," he said sweetly. And they didn't say another word for the rest of the night. Sokka came under the sheets, Toph rested her head on Sokka's shoulder while Sokka wrapped his arm around her waist. They fell asleep, closer than ever.

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_A/N: I can't believe how fluffy that was at the end :P Hope you liked it!_

_Reviews would be lovely!_


	2. Journey's End

**Journey's End**

_a/n: First off, thankyou so much for the reviews on my first oneshot! I really appreciate the support. So this isn't technically a sequel to the previous oneshot, but "Living a Fantasy" is referenced in this oneshot. This takes place the night of the finale (that means spoilers!). It's pretty much my ideal ending... enjoy!_Toph sat in the grass her hands and feet on the ground so she could feel everything. If she had it her way, she'd stay like this forever. Just taking everything in, because you never know when it's going to be gone again. She breathed deeply and felt herself dozing and her thoughts trailing away from the ground to earlier that day. It was over…. The war, the fighting, the stress, the death, the violence…. All over. The Joy spread through her body like a warm breeze. Nothing could make this day any better… except for him. He might be able to make it perfect.

* * *

But He wouldn't come, in fact, she could feel Him sitting at a table with Her only thirty or forty feet away… Or was he? He had been a few minutes ago. Then she felt him clumsily handling his crutch and moving through the many bodies in the Tea Shop. Iroh had thrown a party for the end of the war. She felt him opening the door and thought she even heard a hint of his voice among the dull roar of talk and laughter far off.

He stood for a moment on the steps of the house before making his way across the lawn, _Wrong way snoozles, _she thought to herself. She just had a feeling he was looking for her. Her thoughts were confirmed when she heard him call out her name softly.

"Toph?" he said. She chose not to respond… they hadn't talked alone since Suki came back. Not that she blamed him.

They had become inseparable in the past few weeks. They had been staying up long after Katara and Aang went to sleep, whether it was talking till dawn, or taking adventures in the night just for the heck of it. At first glance, the two of them seemed insensitive and stubborn. But together, there was a bond they had never felt with anyone else.

Toph had been forced to act something she wasn't her entire life, and now that she was free to do what she wanted, she felt the need to be the exact opposite of how she was raised. Instead of the poised sophisticated noble her parents taught her to be, she acted like a rebellious coy little girl who always was getting in and out of trouble. But only Sokka saw the real Toph, he alone knew her flaws and her feelings that she just refused to reveal to anyone else.

And Sokka may seem Meat-headed and thick at times, but Toph knew he could be tender, and sweet. They were similar in so many ways, they hid the same qualities in themselves, they shared the same self-doubts, they always bottled up their emotions. That's why they felt they could trust each other more then anyone, because they knew how each other felt. They felt safe to be themselves together.

Only 4 nights before Sokka rescued Suki, he had fallen asleep in her bed. It was a true sign of how close they were when they didn't get awkward in the morning. Sokka just carried her around like normal making his usual bad jokes. Then two nights after that, he talked to her till she fell asleep, or at least until she pretended to fall asleep. Then he kissed her on the forehead before leaving and whispering "Goodnight, Toph." It had been the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. That simple sign of affection had been one of the happiest moments in her life. It was love that Toph needed, she wanted to be cared for so badly, and finally, someone was filling that void in her life.



"Toph?" he said a little louder. He sighed, "Listen, I know you're out here somewhere and just aren't answering because…" he stopped, "because I don't know why," _liar, _she thought, _you know exactly why I'm not answering. _He continued, "Just please answer me," he said a little desperately and much closer now.

He limped into the clearing and saw her lying on her back. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey," she said.

"Why didn't you answer me?" he asked.

"You didn't say Marco," she teased. He laughed quietly to himself. "Why are you out here anyways?"

"I should ask you the same question," he said.

She didn't speak for a while. "I just wanted some fresh air," she said eventually.

"Fresh air for an hour and forty-five minutes?" he asked.

"You were counting?" she asked smiling.

"Well, not exactly…" he said shyly.

"So, why are you out here?" she asked.

"I needed to talk to you," he said. She raised an eyebrow but he didn't elaborate.

"About what," she asked. Again he didn't answer; instead he lay down beside her on his back breathing slowly. She had forgotten how content she felt just being with him.

"Are there stars out tonight?" she asked him. It was something she asked him every night that they stayed up together.

"Yes, they're even brighter then usual," he said.

"And the moon?" she asked.

"It's a crescent," he answered. They didn't speak for a long time after that. They just sat there, both happy to be together again.

"Sokka?"

"Yea?"

"Thank you," she said simply.

She felt him turn his head towards her, "For what?"



"For today," she said. They both sat in silence remembering those moments when they were sure they were about to die together. "You could have let me go you know. You could have saved yourself. I would have understood."

"I would never do that," he said almost aggressively. Then his voice became concerned, "Do you really think I would do that to you Toph?" he asked worriedly, "Do you think I'd ever let you down like that?"

Toph didn't answer and his heartbeat sped up, "Toph, listen to me. I would never let you go. If we were going to die, it was going to be together," he said. She could tell he was looking at her, "Do you believe me?" he asked, his anxiety evident in his voice.

She sighed, "Of course I believe you," his body relaxed a little, "it's just…"

He waited for her to continue, when she didn't he asked "Just what?"

"Things have been different between us," she said finally with a shrug.

He knew this was going to come up, "I know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry," he said even quieter.

"Don't be," she said with a hint of anger that probably only Sokka could have picked up.

_Shit,_ he thought to himself. He had known that she had been angry with him for a while now, but he had thought that maybe after today things would be different.

He knew things had definitely changed for him at least. He was terrified, not for his life, or for Suki's but for Toph's. He felt an overwhelming need to protect her; more so then he'd ever felt for anyone, even his sister. So many times he had pictured her falling off the ship behind a fire blast. And every time the need to be close to her grew stronger.

And when they she was hanging there, both of them seconds away from death, all he could think was _At least we'll die together._ He didn't realize until that moment that he'd give his life to save her in a heartbeat. He had only known her a few months but life would be so empty without her, and that's what kept him holding onto her hand with every ounce of energy he had left in him.

They hadn't spoken for several minutes. But Sokka had to tell her some things, "I don't know if I'm with Suki because I want to be, or because I think I _should _want to be." He was telling her these things not just because she should probably know, but because he was a little confused himself and maybe voicing his concerns would help him figure out what he was feeling. She didn't answer, "She was the first girl my age I'd become close to other then my sister. And we were close back then... and once I saved her from that prison, I felt an obligation to be withher. Ever since she's come here, I've tried to love her, I really have. But I just can't manage it," he said.

There was another painful silence. Toph broke the silence, "That doesn't explain why we haven't talked in 2 weeks," she said in a pained voice.

"We've talked," he said tentatively.

"No we haven't, and you know it," she said defiantly, he couldn't think of anything to say to comfort her. "I used to be able to tell you anything," she said exasperated, "I mean anything. Things I'd never tell another living soul in a hundred years. And then I was completely cut off from my best friend without any warning."

"I really am sorry Toph," he said.

"I just felt abandoned..." she turned her head away from him, "Again," she whispered, barely audible.

To his horror he heard her sniffle and looked over to see tears running down her face into her hair. To see her in that much pain was bad enough, but to know that it was him causing it hurt him more then she would ever know.

"You want to know the real reason why I haven't talked with you?" he asked, his voice cracking with emotion.

She wiped her eyes and nodded. "It's because I was guilty…"

"Of what?" she asked her voice shaking from the tears she was trying to hold back.

"Of wanting to be with you," he said softly. "Because every second I spent with her, I wanted to be spending it with you," he looked at her and remembered all the times he had pictured those eyes when he was kissing Suki, "And I felt like a terrible person because of it. So I avoided you, trying to forget those feelings… but the longer I stayed away, the worse it got. You became the only thing on my mind. Today Toph… you don't know how scared I was for you, I was terrified I wouldn't be strong enough to protect you, to save you," he paused, not sure if he should say what he wanted to say. He took in a deep breath before finally saying, "And tonight, I've realized that I just can't manage to make myself feel anything for her that's remotely comparable to how I feel about you," he said, taking her hand in his. "I broke up with Suki," he said simply.

Toph was trying to find words to convey how much she felt for him at that moment. But his eloquent confession just left her speechless. Instead she scooted over to him and he held her close to him, stroking her hair. They didn't need to say anything.

Toph didn't know how long they stayed like that in each other's arms, but eventually Sokka suggested they go back inside. They stood up together and Sokka began to leave the clearing.

"Sokka?" she stopped him.

He stopped and turned around. She put one hand on his chest feeling his heartbeat before sliding it up to his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He smiled sweetly at her, and they walked back to the teahouse hand in hand.

_Now_ the day couldn't get any better.

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_a/n: It didn't turn out at all how I expected it to, but I'm happy none the less. Also, ideas I was going to use to make "Living a Fantasy" a three-shot are now going to be used in my other story, "New Allies". I'll definetly have another oneshot in this series by the end of the week._

_Review guys! I actually really appreciate criticism :_


	3. Puzzle

**Puzzle**

_a/n: Quick summary/explanation. I literally wrote this in an hour... just wrote. Didn't really think about how this would end or what would happen. I just wrote. So it's just kind of my voice in Sokka's head talking about Toph and then some good old fluff (something I've been writing alarmingly often) towards the end. And I honestly have no idea when this would take place in the series, somewhere before the finale and sometime after Toph showed up._

_And of course, thanks for all the reviews you guys have been giving me! So here you go, hope it's not a complete mess : \_

Puzzling, that was really the only concrete word I could use to describe that girl. Everything else is just too… oh I don't know. There's something about Toph that is so flighty and unstable, but then there's another part of her that just can't seem to be more rock solid (no pun intended). Does that make sense? No, what am I talking about. To be honest I don't think I ever know what I'm talking about when Toph is on my mind.

She's my best friend, no doubt about it. But sometimes I have no idea what she thinks of me. I care more about her then is probably healthy for only having known her a few months. But after a few weeks of getting to know her, I knew that I couldn't be apart from her for long. In fact, imagining life without her now seems nothing short of absurd. Although if I brought this up with her she'd most likely laugh in my face. And yet there are times when she's so loving, caring and sweet that it throws me off balance. I know she has the capability to have feelings and be sensitive but she is just so completely unwilling to even acknowledge that side of her that it's next to impossible to even get a glimpse of that half of her.

I was one of the luckier people when it came to that. She trusted me, not enough to consistently be the Toph I really knew her to be, but enough that once in a blue moon, she'd talk to me like a real person. Which I think is more then she can say for anyone she's known in the entirety of her lifetime. It's truly incredible to see her take off that protective shell she so avidly holds onto and open up her heart in ways I've never seen another person do.

I may be biased considering I'm in love with her.

When I even start telling Katara or Aang about the way Toph acts around me they only laugh… a lot. As if I were telling them some hilarious and ridiculous joke. They just can't accept that there's something behind that hard exterior. But they've never really known Toph the way I do. I doubt anyone does. It makes me feel important.

But I'm not sure if she's just using me as her own human diary or if she actually cares about me. With her you can never tell (as if you can tell anything for sure with her). In the few moments of weakness (or atleast what she would consider weakness) the only evidence that she truly cared about anything was her parents. I've never been mentioned. And I have no way of knowing what she thinks of me because I'm the only person she'd even talk to about that sort of thing… but obviously if the subject matter is me then there's no way I'm getting that out of her. Embarrassing or awkward situations are about as scary to her as… oh I don't know, the firelord is to, well everyone on the planet. I think Toph would take an entire platoon of firebenders before she even mentioned her feelings for me… whatever they were.

So I decided that if there ever was a way in hell for her to tell me how she feels I'd have to start the conversation, and drag her in, kicking and screaming if I had to. The dragging is metaphorical of course, but the kicking and screaming was a serious possibility. As soon as I put the words "feelings" and "me" in one sentence with a question mark at the end I wouldn't put it past her to start screaming like a banchee, or launching me a thousand feet in the air, which ever came to mind first of course.

So you can see how much it must mean to me when I'm risking my personal safety to get this out of her. I had no expectations of her feelings to be even remotely close to the way I feel about her. But to know that she cares would mean so much to me, more than I can even describe. And the idea (as irrational as the idea may be) that she had 'more then friends' feelings about me made me almost dizzy with bliss. But I didn't have any hopes for that happy of an ending. A simple, "You mean a lot to me too Sokka," would probably make my life complete. But the idea of her feeling the same way about me as I do her would most likely make me cry from happiness, something that wasn't on my agenda today.

So we were walking in silence. She must have had some idea why I was asking to talk to her alone because she originally tried not to come with more force then I expected. Our heartfelt talks were usually nothing more then accidental (but immeasurably significant) moments that happened by chance, not planning. But I persuaded her eventually. We hadn't spoken for the past few minutes since we left camp but it didn't bother me. Silence never was uncomfortable so long as we were togethor.

I heard the water probably full minutes after she had, and followed the sound. After another few minutes we reached an opening in the trees and I saw the stream, the water reflected the sun like it was made of diamonds. There were yellow flowers along the bank on either side and birds were singing all around us. My heart ached that Toph couldn't see the full beauty of the place.

I sat on a big flat rock right on the edge of the stream and took off my shoes. She followed suit. I had to roll up my pants so as not to get them wet when I put them in the water because it came up past my ankles. She however, only could dip her toes in the cool water. I smiled despite myself at how cute it was, a thought she would surely have punched me for. I would think cute was the last thing she would want anyone thinking of her as.

We sat in silence again. Her prescence alone brought about a calm that I didn't know was possible until I met her. I had been trying to figure out how to bring this up with Toph for weeks now and still I had no ideas worth trying out. I glanced over at her and saw her beautiful profile. Her dark hair was blowing in the breeze and making patterns along her porcelain cheek. Her lips were the perfect shade of pink, soft, but in a way that was more beautiful then innocent. Her nose went up at the tip in the most adorable way.

And her eyes were… breathtaking… unbelievable… stunning. The smallest of glances at her striking eyes would have me admiring them for minutes at a time until I caught myself so as to hide my small obsession from Katara or Aang.

I racked my brains for the right way to put this, but no logical or subtle way came to me. If Toph was anything it was blunt. Maybe I should take a leaf out of her book? All logic and restraint thrown out the window I spoke, "Would you believe that I'm in love with you?" I think I was more shocked then she was when those words escaped my lips. My heart began to beat uncontrollably and I waited in anticipation for her to respond. It was too late now, the cat was out of the bag and I just had to hope for the best… and for no broken bones at the end of this.

And yet to my amazement, she barely even flinched. There was a long pause before she finally spoke. "No."

Now that threw me off my guard. "What?" I asked almost angry.

"No, I don't believe you," she said simply.

I had no idea how to respond. The fact that I told her I was in love with her already had the conversation going in a direction I had never anticipated and her response was only making the situation more bizarre. "Well why not?" I asked somewhat desperately and maybe a little too defensive.

She laughed, as I had expected. "Because, there's no way you'd choose a twelve year-old out of your plethora of followers," she said a little meanly.

I was more than a little confused now, "What do you mean my 'plethora of followers'" I asked.

She sighed, "You know what I mean, Ty Lee, Suki, every girl you've ever come in contact with. They all worship the ground you walk on." She seemed so relaxed and at ease and it bothered me almost as much as her response. How could she be so calm when I had just told her that I was in love with her?

"First of all you're wrong," I said, "And second of all, why are you so sure that I wouldn't choose you out of all those girls and everyone I'll ever meet after them?" I asked getting a bit hysterical, did she really find it so hard to believe that he cared about her that way?

"I'm not wrong Sokka, you're the essence of beauty," she said nonchalantly, though it had quite a different reaction in me. I blushed furiously and tried to think of something clever to say. My heartbeat must have sped up because she smirked ever so slightly and this only annoyed me more.

"No, I'm not!" I said pathetically.

"Yes you are," she said almost mockingly, though the equally childish response sounded so defiant and confident that it sounded infinitely more convincing then mine.

"And how would you know!" I said.

She sighed, "I may be blind Sokka, but I think I know well enough why a group of girls are gawking at a tall, tan, blue-eyed boy. It's not because of you're shiny boomerang you know."

I stumbled on my words only making me more flabbergasted, "Well…. Well that's not the point! Why can't you believe that I'm in love with you." I can't believe I said it again. But every time I said it I was more and more sure of it and wanted to say it every moment for the rest of my life. But I'd have to resist for the moment so I didn't look like more of a fool then I already did.

"That's exactly the point Sokka, a boy who could get any girl he wanted wouldn't settle for a blind, fragile, ugly 12-year old."

I snorted, "Is that what you think of yourself?" I asked, she didn't answer but her cheeks burned a little from anger at my laughing at her, "You obviously have a very sore idea of yourself."

"Oh yea! How so?" she shot back.

"Well let's think, yes you're blind but you see multitudes more then I can see. Fragile is just ridiculous Toph. You could take on the firelord himself if it weren't Aang's destiny. What was the next one?" I asked.

"Ugly," she spat out. I laughed again and she scowled. "No need to laugh! I know it's true." She said and her voice trailed off and she turned away from me.

"Toph, I wasn't laughing because of that," I said. I had a momentary battle in my head about whether or not to grab her hand and decided that if she were crying then she needed it. I reached out my hand and wrapped mine around hers. I was shocked at how cool it was and how good it felt. "Who told you you were ugly?" I asked.

I saw her wipe away a tear and it broke my heart a little, "No one… I just assumed because… well because…" and then she stopped.

"You don't understand that… that you're beautiful. You really are," I said softly "More beautiful than any girl I've ever seen." I had never spoken like this with her, and I had to admit, it was unbelievably nice. She shook her head but I saw her blush and the tiniest hint of a smile. "Would I lie to you Toph?" I asked.

She ignored the question, "What about the fact that I'm 12? That doesn't bother you at all… when you could skip 4 years and date girls your age?"

I laughed at the concern, "That doesn't matter to me… not a bit. Why should I care you're a couple years younger then me? You've never seemed it."

She finally turned her head back, her eyes a little swollen from the brief tears. "So you weren't lying then?" she asked.

"About what?" I asked.

"About… being in love with me?" she asked.

I shook his head and smiled, "Not even a little."

She sighed contentedly before resting her head on my shoulder. "Good," she said.

We sat like that for a good long while. The feeling of her head on my shoulder was more then I could ever have asked for. I began praising the gods that I'd had my brief moment of word vomit and gotten it out there, something I had had no intention of doing coming into this conversation. But it felt good… wonderfully good.

I realized something after maybe 15 minutes of our comfortable silence, "You never told me whether or not you loved me…" I said still a little unsure of the answer.

She pulled her head from my shoulder and gave me a mischievous grin, "Why on earth would I tell you that?"

I was startled, "Because I told you!"

She laughed that laugh that made my stomach do flips in my gut, "You're going to have to work harder then that to get it out of me," she said still smiling that dazzling smile.

And with that she stood and left. I probably should have expected something like that. Leave it to Toph to let you spill your heart out and still leave you in the dark.

I gave a resigned sigh. Maybe it was right for the idea guy to end up with the puzzle. To tell you the truth I had no idea how I'd do it, but I knew one day I'd put together the pieces.

* * *

_a/n: Still not sure if I liked that at all... The conversation I wrote seems completely unlikely and they're pretty out of character in my opinion... but it's your opinion that counts! You know what that means... review perty please. I've still got 3 or 4 ideas for more oneshots so keep watching! _


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